Wagering generally relates to the placement of monetarily based bets on a game of chance. However, wagering can be structured in a variety of manners. One of the more well-known versions of wagering is betting against “the house” (i.e., the organization facilitating or conducting the game). This type of wagering is very typical in casino environments where a player is placing a bet against the casino on a slot machine or at a table game, such as Blackjack. An equally common form of wagering involves betting among a group of people where all entry money is awarded in prizes. This style of wagering accounts for friendly games of poker, small sport betting pools (e.g., office pools), and even simple outcome based wagers between two or more people. Another type of wagering that combines elements of each of these betting styles is parimutuel (or pari-mutuel) wagering.
In parimutuel wagering, a plurality of individuals are grouped together and each place wagers on the outcome of an event. Typically, each of the individuals pays an entry fee to join the group. These entry fees are combined and a percentage of the total is taken out by a “house” for management and/or administration of the wagering activity (i.e., “house take”). The remainder of the entry fees is designated as an award pool that is split up among the members of the group who most correctly predict the outcome of the event. Thus, the individuals of the group are playing against each other instead of a “house,” although a management entity is present to organize the parimutuel group and provide administration of the wagering activities. This type of wagering is often associated with race-based events where there are a plurality of contestants and a ranked finishing order. Unlike typical casino betting where the odds and payout amounts (paytable) are typically known before a bet is placed, the final odds in parimutuel wagering events usually are not calculated until the group of individuals (or pool) is closed (that is, not accepting any additional participants). However, even though the final odds are not know until the pool closes, the administration agencies often times provide approximate odds and/or payouts should no more bets be made at the time.
The skill of determining the outcomes of the events is often referred to as handicapping. This term came about in part because some bettors invested time and resources in researching information about the race participants (such as past race results, conditioning, recent injuries/problems etc.) that made the wager “handicapped” or informed. Skilled handicappers can turn this information into more educated selections or wagers. Thus, unlike casino betting where the house typically has the odds in their favor, parimutuel wagering can allow skilled individuals to make informed selections that put the odds slightly in their favor.
Conventional parimutuel wagering systems, however, may be intimidating for newer participants who do not want to risk large amounts of money on a singe race against more experienced handicappers. Additionally, skilled handicappers may feel that single smaller event parimutuel bets do not provide enough of a payout to conduct extensive research on the racers in the event.